- Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: Baen Books; Reissue edition (Aug 15 1996)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0671877364
- ISBN-13: 978-0671877361
- Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 10.4 x 2.4 cm
- Shipping Weight: 154 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,166,371 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Book Description
In Lest Darkness Fall, twentieth-century academic Martin Padway travels through time to prevent the fall of the Roman Empire, while in To Bring the Light, Herosilla must forge the birth of Roman civilization.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Creative, Concise and Appealing,
By
This review is from: LEST DARKNESS FALL & BRING THE LIGHT (Mass Market Paperback)
Martin Padway, mild-mannered archaeologist, is visiting Rome when he is thrust backwards in time... all the way back to the sixth century A.D. The Roman Empire is fading fast... facing foes on all sides... with the thousand-year blight we now know as the Dark Ages fast approaching. Can a single man -- Padway --change history and prevent the fall of Rome? Nothing less than the 'Age of Enlightenment' hangs in the balance.The literary descendent of 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court', de Camp lets Padway grapple with raw issues. I found these areas the story's most interesting sections: how to make a living, having arrived with only modern currency in hand... how to avoid the authorities, given their proclivity to brand any new technology 'witchcraft'... how to assemble allies, fend off enemies and stay healthy in an environment not conducive to outsiders. Because it was written in 1939, there is a level of 'political incorrectness' that is entertainingly fresh. Italian women, Muslims, the French and others are insulted with broad brush-strokes. Nonetheless, it is historically informative, important from a literary standpoint and makes for interesting reading. Despite its age, it is a fluid, fast read. de Camp had a lot of interesting things to say... and said them well.
3.0 out of 5 stars
A seminal work of alternative history.,
This review is from: LEST DARKNESS FALL & BRING THE LIGHT (Mass Market Paperback)
It is a mark of the quality of this book that it has never been out of print since it was published several decades ago. This is the book that started the genre of alternative history. He throws his hero, Martin Padway, into dark ages Rome with only the contents of his pockets and his wits. Can a modern man make a comfortable life for himself in the ancient world?It is a short read, but very well written. Le Camp builds us a time travel theory and a whole world in the past without needing to engage in in-depth world building. And for students of Byzantine history, it covers an interesting era when Justinian tried to reel the Ostrogothic run Italy back into the Eastern Roman Empire. Apart from the alternative elements the book is very historically correct. As a bonus you get the David Drake novella "To bring the light" another alternative history about the founding of Rome.
5.0 out of 5 stars
L. Sprague DeCamp is overlooked,
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This review is from: LEST DARKNESS FALL & BRING THE LIGHT (Mass Market Paperback)
Lest Darkness Fall was my introduction to L. Sprague DeCamp, and I have been a fan ever since. I even bought this book to read the homage story it contains. I have read and reread this book several times. You will find you will want to study the period of history this book covers. After you study, you will read the book again and apperciate DeCamp's depth of knowledge. When I find an author like L. Sprauge DeCamp, I feel comfortable reading any book ther author writes. DeCamp has an earthy style that is captivationg.
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